Thurs 12.18.08 – The rain stopped sometime last night and I woke up to clear, sunny skies and snow low on all the mountains and local hills! Very exciting! The last time I have seen snow this low on the Irvine & Orange hills was in Nov. 2004 the day before Erika & I went to Ireland.
I couldn’t just stay home in Seal Beach and natter way on images and slideshows on my computer, no, I had to go out at lunch time and drive up Santiago Canyon Road to take in the low snow line myself before it all melts away.
Truly a lovely day.

Tues 12.16.08 – Today around 5pm, my brother Joe called to let me know that he had been laid off from his job of 16 years. He was laughing and I was frankly relieved. He went straight from his college internship into his job which over the last 16 years had morphed into a senior VP position at the company.
In those 16 years, he had not worked for any other company. He had the same set of bosses and over time became more stressed and weighed down even though he appeared to have it all.
Over the years, a few of us in our family encouraged him to look into other opportunities, to try other jobs and/or companies. But Joe is loyal and to his employer he was very loyal.
But circumstances dictated that he was to be let go, and it did not come as a surprise as his position was in limbo due to the credit crunch in that he could not really do his job with the economy at the state it was in.
His employer was honorable about the whole thing. The CEO called and apologized. His boss met with him in person even though their offices are more then 60 miles apart. They gave him a good severance package. He will remain friends with these folks who mentored him all these years.
Why did we go to celebrate at Walt’s Wharf tonight? Because now Joe is set free to try other avenues. To stretch. To imagine a new life.
One of the things that I have admired greatly about my brother the last 6-7 years is the the house that he and my dad have built out in Arizona on the Colorado River. My brother has spent most weekends the last 6 years building a house and garage (1200 sq ft of house, and 2400 sq of garage – as it should be). While many folks would come home from an intense job and veg out on the weekends, my brother drove 3.5 hours each way to be creative over time. And the house is beautiful.
I hope that whatever my brother chooses to do with the next few years of his life, that he will figure out how to meld his talent for business, numbers, and negotiating with his wide creative streak that is able to build a house and a sand rail (dune buggy) on the his off time.
Go Joe Go!

Dear Yahoo Executives,
If you are wondering why your company is failing, it is because you don’t get the internet.
What were you all thinking last week when you decided to layoff one of the founding employees who is now one of the two most public facing and world popular employees of your most important property?
After this bonehead move of exceedingly bad strategy and timing, everyone involved in the decision to layoff George Oates should be fired asap.
Sincerely, Jenifer Hanen
*******
Update from Tues 12.16.08:Jeremy and Jeffrey both weigh in on George getting laid off.